The IOM Mission in Colombia this week hosted an international
labour migration seminar in the city of Lleida, Spain.

The main topic discussed was the Temporary Labour Migration
Programme carried out by IOM and the Unión de Pagesos, a
trade association of some 10,000 agricultural businesses in
Catalonia.

The programme aims to encourage the participants to channel
their savings into small businesses, housing and education, with
support from the private sector and international organizations to
multiply the impact their earnings will have on their families and
the community at large.

In 2007, 1,519 Colombians travelled to Spain to work on farms in
the Catalonia region; 28 per cent were women.  This year, an
estimated 1,700 migrants are participating.

Fifty-four per cent of the migrants send an average of €331
each month to their families back home, and more than 90 per cent
confirmed that they manage to save some €3,000 each
season.

Colombians who have participated in the temporary labour
migration programme hail from communities with large numbers of
internally displaced persons, or are women heads of households,
indigenous populations, and residents of communities at risk for
natural disasters.

"Thanks to the farming techniques I learnt in Spain, as well as
the experience of working alongside migrants from Morocco and
Romania, I gained a lot of knowledge that I will apply when I
return to work on my farm and with members of my community,"
explains Amalia, a migrant from southern Colombia who is finishing
her second season in Spain.

IOM Chief of Mission in Colombia, José Angel Oropeza,
explains, "The new skills acquired allow the participants to become
co-development agents, and the remittances they send are
contributing to the local economy."

Participants in this week's conference included staff of the
Spanish Ministry of Labour and Colombia's Ministry of External
Relations; governments officials, academia and civil society from
both countries; Spain's International Cooperation and Development
Agency; Catalonia' Agency for Cooperation and Development and the
Inter-American Development Bank, amongst others.

The event was organized by IOM Colombia and the Unión de
Pagesos/Fundación Agricultores Solidarios, with funding from
the AENEAS Programme of the European Commission.

For more information please contact:

Jorge Andrés Gallo

IOM Colombia

Tel: +57.1.594.6410 Ext. 142

Mobile: +57.311.561.9495

E-mail: "mailto:jgallo@iom.int">jgallo@iom.int